To prevent their Tesla vehicle from calling them to order if they are not paying attention, some drivers use steering wheel weights. A risky behavior, but which seems to be widespread.
Tesla’s driver assistance system, Autopilot, has been implicated in several crashes. The manufacturer is clear: drivers must keep their hands on the steering wheel at all times, even when it is activated. The same goes for the Full Self-Driving mode.
Avoid vehicle alerts
To ensure drivers are paying attention, Tesla has implemented a system that alerts them if they don’t have their hands on the wheel or are not looking at the road. This initiative is strongly criticized by some owners of Tesla vehicles, because it is considered particularly disturbing.
Some have therefore found the parade to avoid these untimely reports. They get steering wheel weights, the uses of which range from smartphone holders to muscle soreness relief, to trick the vehicle into thinking they have their hands on the wheel. According to a survey by the Washington Post, this practice is particularly widespread, and such devices are very easily found on major e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba or Amazon. Recently, these items ranked among the top two offers in the “Automotive Steering Wheels” category on Amazon.
The opinions under these products also leave little doubt as to their primary use. ” If you use it on city streets, it will work without any alerts. Use it at your own risk “, writes a user under one of them.
Very risky behavior
After the publication of the paper washington post, Amazon and Alibaba said they removed the products, citing security concerns and violations of their policies. “ The products in question have been evasively listed, have been removed, and we are taking corrective action. Amazon does not tolerate illegal or evasive behavior, and we penalize bad actors who make false, factual claims to their customers. commented the e-commerce giant.
The use of these devices is particularly dangerous for road safety, the systems of Tesla being, for the moment, far from being infallible. The extent of the phenomenon still raises questions. According to Philip Koopman, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and specialist in the safety of autonomous vehicles, the CEO of Tesla has something to do with it. ” Elon Musk says the vehicle is supposed to drive itself. That’s what they’re going to hear. How do you think they will behave? he wonders.
Source : The Washington Post
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